This project concerns the development of a spectral emission technique for measurement of very small amounts of gasous nitrogen. It has applicability to the measurement of the partial pressure of nitrogen in blood and also the potential for measuring very small amounts of gaseous ammonia. The technique involves exciting the nitrogen gas emission lines in a purified helium gas using a radio-frequency electric discharge. The characteristic emission lines of nitrogen are present in intensity proportional to the concentration of nitrogen gas in the helium. We have demonstrated capacity to measure nitrogen concentrations below 0.1 part-per-million.